Pioneers Make it 4-0 in NEC with Win at Long Island

BROOKLYN, N.Y. (March 28, 2010) – Sacred Heart sophomore Kate Kmiotek (Farmingville, NY) tied her career-high with six goals as the Pioneers blew open a 4-4 game with 13-straight goals on their way to their fourth-straight win, 17-6 Sunday afternoon at Long Island University. The Pioneers out shot LIU 44-18 in the win as they remain perfect in Northeast Conference play at 4-0.

Kmiotek did half of her damage in the early going, scoring three of the Pioneers first four goals. LIU's Claire Ranney put her team up off the opening draw scoring just 12 seconds into the game before SHU's Kmiotek went on a three-goal run. The sophomore midfielder scored on a free-position attempt, unassisted and off a feed from senior Carissa Hauser (East Northport, NY). Hauser followed off a pass from sophomore Alicia Fuchs (Bay Shore, NY) to put the Pioneers up 4-1 nine minutes in.

Long Island (1-9, 0-4 NEC) pulled the game even at 4-4 with a three-goal rally started at 20:20 on a Christie Wienckowski 8meter score. Annie Kalata scored unassisted at 19:56 and Wienckowski tied it up at 14:45 with her second free-position goal.

From there it was all Sacred Heart (6-4, 4-0 NEC) as the Pioneers ran off 13-straight goals starting at 12:33 of the first half and ending with 6:05 left in the second to run away with the win. Seniors Cori Horelik (South Windsor, CT) and Hauser started the rally with scores at 12:33 and 12:07. Sophomore Kaitlin Rochler (Wading River, NY) notched the next three on her way to a career-best four goal afternoon.

Horelik and sophomore Alyssa Dorsey (Massapequa, NY) finished out the first half with back-to-back unassisted goals for an 11-4 halftime lead. Kmiotek tacked on three second half goals to match her three first half tallys while Fuchs found the back of the cage for her first, Rochler buried her fourth and Dorsey tacked on her second of the day to close out the SHU scoring at 6:05.

The Blackbirds tacked on two final scores in the closing minutes to produce the 17-6 final score. In addition to outshooting LIU, Sacred Heart held an 18-7 advantage on draws and a 25-18 advantage on ground balls. Pioneer goalkeeper Chelsea Wagner (Aurora, CO) need only make seven saves while allowing four goals to earn the victory.

The Sacred Heart defensive unit held their fourth-straight opponent under the 10 goal mark and while forcing 18 LIU turnovers and six broken clear attempts. In NEC play, SHU is outscoring opponents 61-24.

The Pioneers will play host to Mount St. Mary's on Thursday afternoon and the Monmouth Hawks on Saturday.